Electric coin-controlled fortune-telling machine



(No Model.)

WALDMAN, BLEGTRIG COIN CONTROLLED FORTUNE TELI3=ING MACHINE.

Patented 001;. 31; 1893.

1 DRnP ANIGKELINTHE SLOT Am: I VVILLTELLYQUR FORTUNE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLPH WALDMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC COIN-CONTROLLED FORTUNE-TELLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,768, dated October 31, 1893.

Application filed April 24, 1 898.

To 01. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLPH WALDMAN, of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri,

' have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Coin-Controlled Fortune-Telling Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,.,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to coin controlled machines, and consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and designated in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved electrically actuated and coincontrolled fortune-telling machine having a revoluble pointer or indicator, which shall promptly begin its revoluble movement when an impulse is imparted to it by the revoluble. armature of the machine; and which pointer or indicator shall be so mounted upon the armature shaft as to have an impulse imparted to it when said shaft is revolved in one direction, and continue to revolve by its momentum an indefinite length of time after said shaft has ceased its revoluble movement.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of same, with the hinged cover elevated. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, showing one edge or end of the machine. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail elevation, showing a portion of the front cover having the dial mounted thereon and a portion of the armature shaft carrying the revoluble pointer or indicator-disk. Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of the revoluble pointer -or indicator-disk, enlarged, and showing the armature shaft in section, the section being taken on line XX of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail view in perspective of a coin-controlled lever used in carrying out the invention.

1 indicates the frame or casing of the machine, which is preferably of rectangular contour, as here shown, and provided with an ornamental top 3, and a rear cover4 provided with hinges 5 at its upper end, so that same can be operated to gain access to the mechanism contained within the casing. The casing is provided with a suitable lock 6, for securing said cover against operation by unauthorized persons. The interior of the casing ispreferably divided into two main compart- Serial No. 471,536. (No model.)

ments by a vertical partition 7, and one of these compartments is subdivided into two smaller compartments 8 and 9,0ne above the other, by means of a short horizontal partition 10. Located in the compartments 8 and 9 are two or more portable batteries or cells 11, the purpose of which will appear hereinafter.

12 indicates a bracket having vertical opposite faces, and mounted within the large compartment of the casing adjacent the front wall 13 thereof, upon suitable supports 145 so that it will be held a distance in the rear of said front wall.

15 indicates an electric motor of any suitable construction, provided with a horizontal revoluble armature-shaft 16. This motor has its frame provided with perforated ears 17,

which are engaged by screws or bolts 18, for

securing said motor in place upon the rear holders 19 and 20. There is one important point however, in which the construction of this motor differs from the construction of ordinary motors, and that is, that its armature shaft 16 has its front end integrally extended a considerable distance horizontally, and in alignment with the portion which carries the armature. The forward extension of this -shaft passes through an aperture or hearing in the bracket 12, so that its free end will project within a circular opening 21 formed in the front wall 13 of the casing, and

shaft is threaded into the front end of said shaft, so that its head will project beyond the peripheral surface of the shaft, and form a shoulder to prevent said disk from running off the end of the shaft during operation. This disk is preferably made of some light .and stiff material, such as card-board, as it is provided upon its rear face with a reinforce disk 24: which latter is also provided with a central perforation in alignment with the perforation in said disk 22. wheel is fixed upon said shaft closely adjacent the reinforce disk 24, by means of a set-screw 26, or in any known manner. The disk 22 is thus loosely mounted upon and held in position at the front end of the shaft 16, so that said shaft may revolve independently of said disk, and so that said disk ma revolve independently of the shaft.

27 indicates a spring-pressed pawl, mounted upon a disk 24, so that its free end engages the teethof the ratchet wheel 25. A suitable spring 28 is also mounted upon said disk 24 adjacent said pawl, so as to normally urge and retain the pawl in engagement with the teeth of said wheel.

The front face of the indicator or pointer disk 22 is provided with a suitable mark, pointer or indicator 29, which is preferably in the form of the representation of a human hand, having one finger extending to a point closely adjacent the marginal edge of said disk.

30 indicates a thick or plate glass face, which is circular in outline, and is secured upon the front of the front wall 13 by means of suitable fastenings 31.

32 indicates an index-plate, which is fixed upon the front face of the front wall 13, beneath the glass 30. This index plate is provided with a central opening 33 having a diameter a little less than the diameter of the disk 22, so that the pointer upon said disk face divided by a series of radial lines into,a

number of spaces 34:, in each of which fanciful words of advice, encouragement, discouragement, &c., such as Good luck, Buy stock, Travel, &c., are printed, stamped or painted, for the purpose hereinafter mentioned.

The batteries 1 1 may be of any known make, although they are preferably of the style known as dry, and they are connected in series, by means of the conductors 35 and 36 with the field, armature and brushes of the motor, and with a pair of normally separated contacts 37 and 33. These contacts are preferably in the form of short strips of copper mounted with their bodies substantially parallel, with one end of each free and with said free ends closely adjacent each other, and one in a plane below the other. These contacts are mounted upon the brackets 12 by means of suitable fastenings 39. As longas the contacts'37 and 38 are separated, the circuit is broken. By this I mean of course, that as long as said contacts are separated electrically the circuit is broken.

40indicates a coin-controlled lever mounted upon the rear face of the bracket 12, to have a tilting movement. mounted upon a pin etl passing through an aperture or hearing 42 formed in said lever A ratchet- This lever is pivotally.

at a point intermediate of its length. This lever has a coin pocket 43 mounted upon one of its ends, and the end opposite this coinpocket is made to normally preponderate in weight and gravitate downward. The pocket 43 is mounted upon the outer end of said lever, so that the open end of said pocket will normally rest in the path of a coin gravitating from a coin chute 44.

45 indicates a slot formed in the front wall of the casing at a point adjacent its upper end and communicating with the coin-chute 44, so that when a coin is inserted in said slot said coin will gravita e downward into said pocket, providing the coin so deposited be of the proper size and weight. The details of this coin-chute form no part of inyinvention, and I shall therefore not describe them specifically or show them in such manner in the drawings. It is suflicient to state that the inner end of the lever 40 preponderates in weight, and normally gravitates downward until the pocket 43 rests in proper position to receive a coin from said chute.

46 indicates a weight adjustably mounted upon the inner end of the lever 40, for the purpose of regulating its preponderance in weight, when such adjustment is required, in adapting the machine for operation with different weights of coin.

47 indicates an arm or projection extending from one side of the lever 40 beneath the free end of the lower one of the flexible contacts, which I have marked with the numeral 38.

The operation is as follows: The motor and batteries being connected in series with the contacts 37 and 38, as here shown, and a proper coin being inserted in the slot 4:5,said coin will gravitate downward in the chute 44, drop into the pocket 43, and its weight will immediately tilt the lever 40 to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and then said coin will gravitate out of said pocketand fall into the space 48 in the lower portion of the casing, whence it may be removed by way of a suitable locked door 49. The coin having tilted the lever 40 in the manner above described, the arm or projection 47 has elevated the flexible contact 38 upward into contact with the flexible contact 37 above it, and this has closed the circuit. As soon as circuit is closed in this manner, the armature of the motor promptly begins to revolve (preferably) in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and this of course carries the disk 22 in the same direction with a rapid movement. The disk 22 promptly starts upon its revoluble movement by reason of its being mounted directly upon the armature shaft, and by reason of the comparatively large armature used in the motor. Butthe impulse given the armature and its shaft and the disk 22, is but momentary, forthe' reason thatthe contact between the flexible contacts 37 and 38 is only momentary in duration, for the lever 40 only remains in the position indicated by the dotted lines during the time that the coin is located in the pocket 43, which is quite short, as will be observed. But the armature does not immediately stop upon the circuit being broken, but it does stop before the disk 22 ceases its movement. Upon the shaft 16 imparting an impulse to the disk 22, the pawl 27 engages one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 25, and causes said disk to revolve in one direction with said shaft, but upon the cessation of movement of said shaft said disk continues in the same direction some little time, said pawl slipping over the teeth of said wheel and thereby permitting such action. Mounting the disk 22 upon the armature shaft loosely in-this manner, permits said disk to have a variable relation to said shaft, which I have found to be a very desirable point in machines of this class. For instance, if the disk was fixed upon the shaft, and had a fixed relation thereto, it would be likely to come to rest at the same point each time an impulse is imparted to it, which would be very objectionable. Each time that an impulse is imparted to the disk 22 it is given a rapid whirling movement, so that the pointer 29 revolves rapidly for a few seconds, and then comes to restopposite the inner end of one of the spaces 3 10f the index plate, thereby indicating the fortune of the person who deposited the coin. Each time a coin is deposited the above operation will be repeated, if the coin be of proper weight and size.

I am aware that machines of the class herein described have heretofore been patented with an indicating-device securely fixed upon a spindle and said spindle carrying a wheel which is engaged by a vibratory slip-pawl carried by the vibratory armature of an electro magnet, and I hereby disclaim the same.

I am further aware that machines of the class herein described have been patented in Great Britain with a revoluble indicating device fixed upon one spindle and driven by a revoluble armature of an electric motor, but as said indicating device and said armature are in the last mentioned construction mounted upon separate spindles, they 'do not answer the purpose of my invention, and I hereby disclaim such.

What I claim is 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a casing having an aperture in its front wall, an electric motor having a revoluble armature, an armature shaft upon which said armature is mounted, and said shaft extending integrallyinto said aperture in the front wall of said casing, and an indicator mounted upon said extended end of said shaft in said aperture, substantially as herein specified.

2. The improved electrically-actuated and coincontrolled fortune telling machine, constructed with a casing having an aperture in its front wall, a motor having a revoluble shaft extended integrally into said aperture, and an indicator loosely mounted upon said shaft to be revolvedin one direction in said aperture, when an impulse is imparted to it by said shaft and arranged to continue to revolve an indefinite length of time after said shaft has ceased its revoluble movement, substantially as herein specified.

3. The combination in an electrically act'u atedand coin controlled fortune telling machine, of a casing 1 having its interior divided into two main compartments by a vertical partition 7, and one of these compartments subdivided into two smaller compartments 8 and 9, one above the other by a short horizontal partition 10, batteries or cells 11 located v one in each of said smaller compartments and connected in series, a motor having a shaft revoluble in one direction continuously for a definite length of time, a circular aperture formed in the front wall of said easing into which said motor-shaft is extended, an

indicator loosely mounted upon said extended end of said shaft in said aperture, electricalconnections between said batteries and said motor, and a coin-controlled lever 40 arranged to be tilted by a proper coin and make or 7 break the circuit between said batteries and said motor, substantially as herein specified,-

4. The combination of a casing 1, a bracket 12 having vertical opposite faces and mounted within said casing adjacent the front wall thereof but separated a distance therefrom, an electric motor 15 provided with a horizontal revoluble armature shaft 16 and mounted upon the rear face of said bracket in said casing, an aperture formed in the front wall of said easing into which said armature shaft is integrally extended in alignment with the portion which carries the armature, a source of electricity also mounted within said casing in circuit with said motor, an indicator loosely mounted upon said shaft within said aperture in said casing and a coin-controlled lever 40 arranged to be tilted by a proper coin and make or break the circuit between'said source of electricity and said motor, substantially as herein specified.

5. In a coin controlled fortune telling machine, the combination of the revoluble shaft 16, an indicator or disk 22 loosely mounted upon said shaft and provided with a pointer or indicator upon its front face, a ratchet wheel 25'fixed upon said shaft closely adjacent said disk, a pawl 27 mounted upon said disk with its free end in engagement with the teeth of said ratchet'wheel so that said disk may revolve in one direction only upon said shaft, and a spring which normally urges and retains said pawl in engagement with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, substantially as herein specified. w

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLPH WALDMAN. 

